March 8th, 2010 | 
Author: 
“Fringe” fans, it’s time to exhale — the science fiction television series isn’t in as much trouble as you might have thought. In fact, there’s no sign of immediate danger whatsoever, as Fox has renewed the show for a third season.
Entertainment Weekly reports that “Fringe” will live to see another year despite struggling in the fiercely competitive Thursday night slot. But Kevin Reilly, the president of entertainment for Fox, recently suggested that the show’s declining ratings weren’t as much of a concern as some might expect them to be.
“People haven’t abandoned ‘Fringe,’” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “It’s just the only scripted four-way race, and frankly we’ve heard from fans it’s not they don’t want to watch it anymore, it just may have moved to their second choice; they’re picking it up on their DVRs or Hulu. When there’s wiggle room in time period, they come back.”
The renewal of “Fringe” is a sigh of relief for the show’s fans, but many were starting to think that cancellation wouldn’t have been completely undeserved. Despite excellent performances, standout episodes and a compelling overarching mythology, there’s no question that “Fringe” has dragged its feet with certain standalone episodes that seemingly hold no purpose in the grand scheme of the show. It’s a fact that has frustrated many a “Fringe” fan, myself included.
But “Fringe” will be at an unusual place when the series returns in April, as several long kept secrets started leaking out to the characters in the show’s most recent installment, “Jacksonville.” The next episode, “Peter,” promises to lift the curtain back even further. While the threat of cancellation is gone — for now, at least — it’s entirely likely that the remaining episodes of this season, most likely written before the renewal, will pull out all of the stops. Here’s hoping, at least.
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